‘Truly dangerous’: Dry, windy forecast east of WA’s Cascades sparks dire wildfire warning

High winds in central and eastern Washington on Saturday could worsen large fires already burning in the region. 

The National Weather Service issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” warning for Aug. 1, forecasting dry, hot and windy conditions in the region. Gusts up to 50 mph are expected in some areas. 

The warning is the first of its kind to be issued in the Pacific Northwest. It’s one step higher than a red flag and came as more than 200,000 acres burned across 10 major fires in the region.

“These warnings are only issued when conditions are truly dangerous,” said Mason Friedman, smoke and fire meteorologist at the Department of Natural Resources. 

Washington Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove is urging residents to follow evacuation notices and use caution to prevent more fires from sparking. 

Over 426,000 acres have already burned in Washington this season, marking the fifth largest total acreage burned in a year this century, according to the agency. 

“And we’re just in July,” said Upthegrove. “This is an extraordinary fire season that’s creating unusual challenges.”

The state’s largest fire, Kaiser Canyon, has burned around 130,000 acres near Nespelem in Okanogan County.

On Friday, Upthegrove said Gov. Bob Ferguson had approved his request to deploy between 100 and 110 National Guard members with specialized training from the Department of Natural Resources to assist with firefighting. The members will deploy this weekend to the Little Giant Fire, which is burning about 30 miles northwest of Leavenworth, he said.

Federal personnel from the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are also responding to the fires. 

Upthegrove also said he’d recently freed up more employees from the Department of Natural Resources to shift from their usual duties to wildfire response as needed.

As of Friday, 1,038 wildfires were burning across the state, with 717 east of the Cascades, according to an agency spokesperson. Most are small, but there are ten major fires with the potential to spread over the weekend.  

The Department of Natural Resources and the National Guard have a combined 35 helicopters to aid the response. 

Washington state has brought in firefighting crews from dozens of states, along with teams from New Zealand and Australia.

“We have deployed all of our resources,” Upthegrove said. “But we are stretched thin.”